The Yung Dramps Franchise Failure Rating System

[Yung Dramps]

This is gonna be kinda weird and cringe in the "angry cartoon review youtuber" way but I don't really care and feel the need to commit it to writing for some reason. Lately I've been thinking of the different extents that videogame/movie/book etc series can fail without outright dying and this thinking led to me coining my own categorization system.

DEFCON 5
The franchise released a kinda mediocre entry or two. Nothing serious, it happens to everyone.
Examples: Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword, Ratchet 2016

DEFCON 4
The franchise has undergone a prolonged string of inconsistent quality releases, usually in the ballpark of years. Talks of marked, potentially permanent decline are setting in among longtime fans.
Examples: Current Pokemon/MCU

DEFCON 3
The franchise has released a distinctly terrible entry of such appallingly low quality that confidence has been immensely shaken even at the mass market level. Whether it be a buggy broken mess of a videogame or a tv show whose production pipeline is melting down, this is where long-term reputational damage begins to be dealt to even the sturdiest IPs, albeit at varying levels depending on the scale of the failure and the swiftness of recovery.
Examples: Sonic 06, Anime Resurrection 'F', Game of Thrones Season 8

DEFCON 2
For franchises that refuse to recover after a DEFCON 3-level incident. To enter this category it is not enough for the creators to be genuinely trying their best to correct course but failing due to lack of ideas, resources, budget or talent. Rather they must either have resigned themselves to the brand being washed up and tell fans to keep expectations low as a result or they actively believe in their highly corrosive vision despite pleas to the contrary.
Examples: Post-prime Simpsons, 2010s Paper Mario, Spider-man One More Day and the mainline (Earth 616) Spider-man comics after it

DEFCON 1
This (thankfully) exceedingly rare category is less a franchise failing and moreso a franchise utterly losing its mind. This is no longer simply bad media: These are entries that take their series in directions so alienating and legitimately upsetting that they leave readers/viewers/players questioning the personal integrity of those involved. To put in a less diplomatic, more to-the-point way: These are genuinely disgusting, morally reprehensible and completely inappropriate for the target audience or any audience for that matter. Paradoxically, sometimes entries in this category can be less damaging to the overall IP than DEFCON 2 or even 3 cases, mainly because they are so loathsome and infamous that everyone from the creators to the fans collectively agrees to pretend they never happened. Franchises that aren't so lucky, however, will find themselves with a nigh-uncleanable reputational stain that will haunt them even decades down the road.

Examples

Transformers Kiss Players, Usagi Drop Part 2

Suggest placements for things you hate or something I dunno

 

[boo836]

Yung Dreezy please tell me how much of a disaster the Party for Socialism and Liberation is

 

[phoopes]

And there you have it folks, the first Smogoff OP of 2024 that made me go “this person makes some pretty good points”

 

[DrumstickGaming]

Definitely not a franchise per se, but Milo Murphy’s Law is definitely a DEFCON-5 in the context of being sandwiched between Phineas and Ferb and Hamster & Gretel, all being Dan Povenmire shows set in the same universe. A good chunk of people haven’t heard of Milo at all when I bring it up in conversation, likely due to the fact this only got two seasons and the network heavily delayed the hyped crossover (which was honestly pretty poor). And considering the fact Disney didn’t opt to renew Milo and Dan proceeded to work on Hamster / more Phineas, it seems even they agree to some extent.

Speaking as someone who has fully watched Milo, it’s Phineas and Ferb but mostly worse, exchanging clever plot rearrangements for increasingly annoying self-referential humor and some of the dullest attempts at story arcs ever which don’t really work when your characters are constant vehicles for zany comedy. The self-referential humor worked in the context of Phineas and Ferb because the whole show was built around it, whereas Milo just felt like the writers were throwing darts at categories on the Phineas and Ferb wiki rather than making actually varied and funny comedy. Season 1 was average, Season 2 ranks among some of the worst animated media I’ve watched in terms of laziness, though there are definitely worse cartoons out there like

I can confidently say The Zeta Project is absolutely a DEFCON-5 in the context of the DC Animated Universe. How do you go from making some of the best cartoons for kids and adults to making forgettable trash? WB executive meddling! The Zeta Project is essentially what happens if you take a DCAU show, strip it of 90% of its nuance and soul, and fill it with incredibly generic action / adventure plots that don’t really feel significant at all, and to rub salt in the wound, this show ended on an unresolved cliffhanger after 2 seasons (which was also a result of executive meddling). It’s notably the only DCAU show not on the Max streaming service, and for good reason because it is pretty boring. It’s incredibly sad when the best quality I can say about a show is the opening instrumental theme song. Any other DCAU show is better, and heck, the most Justice League referenced Zeta was some background training bots that looked like him, so there’s no real continuity you get from watching it either aside from an equally bland Batman Beyond crossover episode. At least with Milo, you’d get the occasional good episode that wasn’t stupidity driven or a surprisingly decent song once in a while. The Zeta Project is just…nothing of value. At all.

 

[Ironmage]

So, where are we putting the Star Wars sequel movies? My first impression was at 3, if not 2, but there's probably at least some bias for being a fan of the old Extended Universe.

 

[Mr. Uncompetitive]

My understanding of GoT Season 8 is that it was so bad that it both killed any interest in further Game of Thrones content and killed the careers of both of the directors, so it could prolly go lower?

For some music-related ones, Todd in the Shadows has a fantastic series called Trainwreckords where he goes over albums that arguably killed an artist's entire career (so those are all Level 3 or lower). Also, speaking from experience, post-2016 Kanye West is definitely a Level 3 or lower.

Don't have the biggest experience with these but I'll suggest a few:

• A toooooon of mediocre games can go into Level 5 or lower (NSMB2, Soul Hackers 2, Mega Mans X6, X7, BN4, and SF2, Fire Emblem Fates, Babylon's Fall, Xenosaga 2, Final Fantasy XIII and XIV, etc etc)
• Everything Code Geass-related after Season 2 in Level 5 or 4
• Darker Than Black Season 2 in Level 4 or 3 (I have seen it, but it's been over a decade and I remember liking it well enough)
• Golden Sun Dark Dawn in Level 3
• Devil May Cry 2 and DMC Devil May Cry in Level 3
• Street Fighter V in Level 3
• Anything Silent Hill related after Silent Hill 4 in Level 2
• 2010s/20s Square Enix in Level 2 (Capcom also probably belongs here for their late 2000s-mid 10s run, but they've super course corrected)
• Saints Row 2022 in Level 1
• The Promised Neverland Season 2 in Level 1

 

[skippergamez]

SURVIVOR EDITION!!!!!

DEFCON 5
Survivor Africa
Survivor Fiji
Survivor Worlds Apart
Survivor HHH

DEFCON 4
Survivor Nicaragua-Survivor One World

DEFCON 3
Survivor Thailand
Survivor Gabon
Survivor IotI

Really these are the only ones that are “bad” (HHH is debatable)

 

[Yung Dramps]

So, where are we putting the Star Wars sequel movies? My first impression was at 3, if not 2, but there's probably at least some bias for being a fan of the old Extended Universe.

Rise of Skywalker specifically is probably a 3 contender, albeit more on the "mild" end compared to something like Sonic 06. Disney Star Wars as a whole entity I would not put below that: There have been some genuinely great things put out and even the bad stuff isn't actively trying to distance itself from what made Star Wars popular to begin with (Heck the argument nowadays is that the franchise has gotten too obsessed with mediocre legacy pandering, which is more than can be said for, say, 2010s Paper Mario which seemed actively afraid and ashamed of its own legacy)

My understanding of GoT Season 8 is that it was so bad that it both killed any interest in further Game of Thrones content and killed the careers of both of the directors, so it could prolly go lower?

Eh nah, House of the Dragon came out and did fine both critically and financially in spite of Season 8's shadow. It's still a huge sore spot for fans but it wasn't the insurmountable killing strike that it was initially believed to be.

Saints Row 2022 in Level 1

Out of everything in the list you laid out this is the placement I know enough about to disagree vehemently with the most. I won't fault you for including it based on the guidelines in my post because frankly looking back on it now including Spider-man One More Day in DEFCON 1 was a mistake. Yes, both it and SR22 are disastrous, but my 1 criteria can basically be summed up as "This is genuinely disgusting, morally reprehensible and completely inappropriate for the target audience or any audience for that matter": If you don't know what the other two examples I gave are, look them up and you'll quickly figure out what I'm talking about.

Anyways I've moved OMD to 2, it fits the bill better there, legendarily awful storyline that tore apart a marriage comic fans have been begging to return ever since to absolutely no avail.

 

[dawnbuster]

DEFCON 1
This (thankfully) exceedingly rare category is less a franchise failing and moreso a franchise utterly losing its mind. This is no longer simply bad media: These are entries that take their series in directions so alienating and legitimately upsetting that they leave readers/viewers/players questioning the personal integrity of those involved. Paradoxically, sometimes entries in this category can be less damaging to the overall IP than DEFCON 2 or even 3 cases, mainly because they are so loathsome and infamous that everyone from the creators to the fans collectively agrees to pretend they never happened. Franchises that aren't so lucky, however, will find themselves with a nigh-uncleanable reputational stain that will haunt them even decades down the road.

Toy Story 4

 

[Deezcastforms]

Toy Story 4

Don't forget about Lightyear

 

[Yung Dramps]

Toy Story 4

Man I really did not explain DEFCON 1 in the op very well didn't I? Unless there's a scene in TS4 saying "Marrying your adopted daughter is good actually" that I just didn't get the memo on

 

[dawnbuster]

Man I really did not explain DEFCON 1 in the op very well didn't I? Unless there's a scene in TS4 saying "Marrying your adopted daughter is good actually" that I just didn't get the memo on

Oh there are far worse scenes my friend.

 

[ant4456]

DEFCON 5: New Super Mario Bros.
Was respected with DS, still pretty respected with Wii, fell off in 2012 with two releases and both arguably being a low.

 

[DrumstickGaming]

DEFCON 5: New Super Mario Bros.
Was respected with DS, still pretty respected with Wii, fell off in 2012 with two releases and both arguably being a low.

NSMB2 isn't particularly amazing (apparently it was made by new Nintendo employees which explains some things, still a perfectly playable game tho), but I will defend New Super Mario Bros. U, I think that's a great game! I played it recently and really enjoyed my time with it. I'd say it stands side by side with the old games. I love how connected the worlds are, game looks pretty nice in spite of reusing world themes, and the acorn powerup is good fun. If you wrote it off because of oversaturation when it came out, that's valid, but I'd urge you to seek it out. It's a fun time if you can remove it from the context of its original release.

The New Super Mario Bros series honestly gets way too much hate. Sure, they don't innovate too much, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it - plus they've rectified the innovation complaint with Wonder nowadays. Heck, even the original New Super Mario Bros. really didn't bring that much new to the table overall.

 

[xzern]

i didnt read your post but i noticed that in your hide tag you mentioned transformers. did you see the one with the maximals? and optimus primal (the gorrila?) dude that movie.

 

[BP]

DEFCON 3
The franchise has released a distinctly terrible entry of such appallingly low quality that confidence has been immensely shaken even at the mass market level. Whether it be a buggy broken mess of a videogame or a tv show whose production pipeline is melting down, this is where long-term reputational damage begins to be dealt to even the sturdiest IPs, albeit at varying levels depending on the scale of the failure and the swiftness of recovery.
Examples: Sonic 06, Anime Resurrection 'F', Game of Thrones Season 8

Sly Cooper fits here

 

[Arcticblast]

Super Mario Strikers should be here somewhere

 

[ant4456]

If you wrote it off because of oversaturation when it came out, that's valid, but I'd urge you to seek it out. It's a fun time if you can remove it from the context of its original release.

I grew up replaying the New Super Mario Bros games. I think I have at least 20 hours of playtime in 2. Good game.

 

[Let's go shuckles]

Super Mario Strikers should be here somewhere

I once tried to give a friend my copy of sticker star. They just stared at me with distrust.

 

[UberSkitty]

shrek/puss in boots movies are going all over the place (the descriptions were too long for me to read so idk where).

Also Lego Ninjago went downhill after they started using their movie designs smh

 

[Martin]

DEFCON 5
The franchise released a kinda mediocre entry or two. Nothing serious, it happens to everyone.
Examples: Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword, Ratchet 2016

I will not stand for this Skyward Sword slander